Friday, 25 March 2011

In sports

Teams throughout the world wear red on their uniforms. Major League Baseball is especially well known for red teams. Numerous teams in various sports use red in their team colors.[60]

The Cincinnati Red Stockings are the oldest professional baseball team, dating back to 1869.[61] The franchise soon relocated to Boston and is now the Atlanta Braves, but its name survives as the origin for both the Cincinnati Reds and Boston Red Sox. During the 1950s when red was so strongly associated with communism, the modern Cincinnati team was known as the "Redlegs" and the term was even used on baseball cards. After the red scare faded, the team was known as the Reds again.[62]

In association football, teams that wear red as part of their kit include Manchester United, Liverpool FC, Arsenal FC, AFC Ajax, Bayern Munich and AC Milan. In rugby union, New Zealand's Canterbury provincial team and Crusaders Super 14 rugby side wear red as a major color in their playing strips.

The Cleveland Cavaliers basketball team use a deeper shade of red called wine. A similar shade (known in this instance as claret) is used by English association football teams Aston Villa FC, West Ham United FC, and Burnley FC.

Numerous national teams wear red, often through association with their national flags. These national sides include representative teams in various sports from Spain, England, Wales, Canada, Denmark, Tonga, Chile, and Switzerland.